We focus on the process of self-regulation in children and adolescents living in institutional care. Based on a content analysis of transcripts of two focus groups carried out in a children's home and a protective educational facility, we attempted to detect, describe and explain the mechanisms of self-regulation in children and adolescents aged 11-18 years. The purpose of the study was to reveal how the participants describe their performance in tour components of self-regulation processes, i.e., in setting personal goals, in self-regulation of behaviour, in self-regulation of conflicts and in self-regulation of learning. Within the aforementioned content analysis we compared the previous areas in two types of institutional facilities for provision of institutional and protective care. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.